Discover the Stage 5 highlights
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More information:
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https://www.facebook.com/thealulatour/
https://twitter.com/thealulatour
https://www.instagram.com/thesalulatour/
#TheAlUlaTour
More exclusive contents on Tour de France Club : https://www.letour.fr/fr/club
© Amaury Sport Organisation - www.aso.fr
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SportsTranscript
00:00TELTON PIDCOCK
00:05Yeah, if we go on the offensive, try and win the stage,
00:08that's probably the best way to try and defend.
00:11Now he starts to accelerate a little bit harder.
00:15Pidcock has used this immense power to go clear on the climb.
00:20Well, what an escapade it has been.
00:23Telton Pidcock, tremendous win, stage four of the Alula Tour.
00:32The Alula Tour 2025 is Tom Pidcock's to lose
00:36after his demonstration yesterday on the sky views of Harata Wairid.
00:41The British rider leads by 29 seconds
00:43as we head into today's fifth and final stage.
00:47But the wind is once again going to be a factor
00:49and Pidcock is taking nothing for granted.
00:53A lot of wind today, so, yeah,
00:56it's going to be a big day of echelons, I expect.
00:58For sure, there's going to be splits
01:01and, yeah, different teams with different plans,
01:03so we'll just have to, yeah,
01:05try and stay on the good side of those splits.
01:10We start and finish today at the Alula Camel Cup track,
01:13which is part of Saudi Arabia's rich sporting heritage.
01:17Tim Malir is aiming for his hat-trick on the day of his son's birthday.
01:21My son has two years today, so, yeah, nice day.
01:25I'm going to take every opportunity over here.
01:29It will be really nice, but not that easy.
01:36Meanwhile, Dylan Groenewegen is looking to give the home team,
01:39Jaco Alula, something to celebrate on this final day.
01:44We focus, it's the last day,
01:46so everybody feel their legs maybe a little bit,
01:48but, yeah, we're going to do our best.
01:50But, yeah, everybody know that there is some wind.
01:53We will see what happens in the race.
01:55We have also our GC to defend,
01:57and, yeah, then hopefully we have me in the final to sprint.
02:01Also from a small group, maybe,
02:03but, yeah, that's what you need to see in the final.
02:10There are crosswinds forecast in the early part of Stage 5,
02:13so it could be chaos from the off.
02:15Both the GC teams and the sprint teams
02:17will have to be ready to jump if it all kicks off.
02:20Other than that, it looks a straightforward sprint stage,
02:23with Melilla obviously the favourite to get another win,
02:25just under 170km to bring this fifth edition to a close.
02:40Well, today's breakaway only formed shortly before the live pictures began,
02:44with four men around a minute ahead of the peloton.
02:47They were Diego Uriarte of Equipo Kern Farmer,
02:51Matthias Breinheu of the Terengganu Cycling Team,
02:54Niccolo Garibaut of JCL Team Yukio,
02:57and Cyril de Salle of Wagner-Bazin,
02:59a team-mate of the most active rider, Jens Rijnders.
03:06And the reason they only got away relatively late in the stage
03:08is because there was absolute chaos at the start,
03:11sadly, before the cameras started rolling.
03:13The race split in the crosswinds with a group of around 30 riders,
03:17including Pidcock and Melilla, going clear.
03:24The riders in second and third overall,
03:26Greiner Keplinger and Alan Hatherley, were both caught out,
03:29but through the collective efforts of Bahrain Victorious,
03:32Jaco Alula and others, it all came back together again.
03:37So, a fairly classic race situation,
03:40with the peloton keeping the breakaway close
03:42and wary of any more attacks in the wind.
03:48Well, not wanting to get caught out,
03:50Pidcock soon sent his team to the front of the bunch,
03:52Q36.5 apparently deciding that attack was the best form of defence.
03:59Well, Pidcock seems like he wants to take the race on,
04:03rather than let any other team take advantage of his squad.
04:07So, he's going on the offensive most of the time,
04:11as opposed to waiting and seeing whether the team of Jaco Alula
04:16or the team of Bahrain Victorious take the initiative.
04:21Pidcock's men just keeping an eye on things,
04:23not really driving the peloton on,
04:25but there was still plenty of nerves in this bunch,
04:27as illustrated by a crash between the Japanese champion,
04:30Marino Kobayashi, and Spanish rider, Pablo Carrascosa.
04:35Luckily, there didn't seem to be any major damage done.
04:41Well, things remained fairly settled for the next 20k or so,
04:45but when the wind picked up again,
04:46a couple of teams decided to put the hammer down.
04:51Set out the echelon alarm across the desert plains of Saudi Arabia,
04:56because this race is now on.
04:59The second of all, Rainer Keplinger is in a group of drop riders.
05:04We're just hearing on Radio Tour,
05:06Keplinger has now been dropped as well.
05:09Look at the speed, and Bahrain Victorious have realised
05:12that they've lost a rider.
05:14Look at Pidcock moving up.
05:16Hatherley now has been distanced as well.
05:20And so for the second time today,
05:22Tom Pidcock's closest challengers found themselves
05:24on the wrong side of a split.
05:26A steep learning curve this for Hatherley,
05:28who hasn't done much road racing
05:30and won't have much experience of echelons.
05:32Keplinger also on the back foot.
05:37Well, the gap was only around 10 or 15 seconds,
05:40but UNO-X Mobility were keen to drive it on.
05:43The Norwegian squad had three riders in the top seven this morning,
05:46Frederik Davarsenis, Johannes Kulset and Odne Holter,
05:50and they sensed the possibility of snatching an overall podium.
05:57Slowly but surely, they increased the front group's advantage
06:00to over 20 seconds.
06:02Pidcock, Malia and Kronovegen were all in this front group,
06:05but it was all about UNO-X.
06:07There were bonus seconds available
06:08as they swept over the finish line for the first time,
06:11three for Davarsenis, two for Kulset and one for Pidcock.
06:14Now, they needed a 45-second gap at the finish line
06:17to eject both Keplinger and Hatherley from the podium.
06:24UNO-X are putting Keplinger and Hatherley to the sword.
06:31So, it was two races for the price of one in this final,
06:34UNO-X targeting the overall podium
06:36and the sprinters getting ready for their final shootout,
06:39a grand stand finish to this Alula Tour.
06:45Here comes Milano. He's ready.
06:47Kristoff is there as well.
06:49Milano hits the front.
06:50Kronovegen is there. Moschetti is there as well.
06:53Look at Moschetti go.
06:55Look at the flat-out rider in Q36.5.
06:58It's going to be a win for Moschetti.
07:01Matteo Moschetti of Q36.5 gives them the stage win,
07:07and Tom Pidcock wins the overall.
07:09What a finish to the Alula Tour.
07:14Who is going to be second and third overall?
07:17Look at Hatherley on his absolute limit, the South African.
07:21They are fighting for time.
07:23They cross the line now,
07:24and we'll wait and see what the clock says.
07:28What a way for Q36.5 Pro Cycling
07:31to round out what has been a brilliant week.
07:34Matteo Moschetti landing his 10th career win
07:37and his first since back in September 2023.
07:41He was led out by Tom Pidcock,
07:42who claims his first GC victory in the professional ranks.
07:46The British star has made a dream start to life with his new team.
07:51To be honest, I'm a bit emotional.
07:53It's quite a fairy tale, almost, you know?
07:56And to see how much he means to these guys, it's incredible.
08:01Yeah, it's a big step in my career, if I'm honest, I think.
08:04The concentration it takes at this level to defend a lead every day,
08:08I definitely realise how hard it is.
08:12But, yeah, I think it's a big step.
08:14It's hard to believe, eh? What a week.
08:15And, yeah, today the main goal was to keep safe Tom.
08:21And in the end, I think he paid us for all we did this week for him.
08:25And, yeah, I'm really delighted to thank him
08:29and all the team with that victory.
08:33Muschietti winning the final stage ahead of Runewegen
08:37as Jaco Alula ended the week empty-handed.
08:39Milano, Kristoff and Fedorov completed the top five,
08:43with Moliere down in 13th and the chase group at 57 seconds.
08:49Pidcock's final winning margin was a minute and nine seconds,
08:52while Unu-X played it perfectly.
08:54All three of their riders leapfrogged Keplinger and Hathaway,
08:58who slipped to fifth and sixth.
09:03Pidcock also goes home with the red jersey
09:05as the winner of the points classification.
09:07Four riders ended up on 30 points,
09:09but the race winner was obviously the best placed overall.
09:14As well as winning the team's classification,
09:16Unu-X claimed a 1-2 in the youth classification
09:19with Kulset and Halter.
09:20It was an excellent week for the Norwegians.
09:23And Jens Reinders finished up as our most active rider
09:26after getting into three breakaways.
09:29Thanks very much for joining us
09:30for the fifth edition of the Alula Tour,
09:32and we'll see you again in 2026.